Congratulations on the release of this album – how does it feel for Now And Then to finally be out in the world?
Thank you! It’s crazy, it’s definitely a sense of relief (in a good way) because we’ve been working on it and holding onto it for so long. It feels weird talking about it because we weren’t able to for such a long time. I just hope that our fans can connect to the record in their own way and find their own moments and stories throughout it.
What do you think the album says about Eliza & The Delusionals as a band? What are you proudest of when it comes to Now And Then?
I think it’s definitely a more mature take on our sound. Creating it definitely felt like us taking the next step and forming a new era of the band. I think I feel proud of the fact that we were able to persevere through some of the most difficult times of our life throughout 2020-21 and still find the motivation and inspiration every day to get up out of bed and write songs. It really wasn’t an easy time for any of us, but it’s kind of like our trophy for making it out to the other side. I love this record, and I’m proud of us for being able to write an album that we feel is really honest and that we love so much.
You worked with a whole stack of legends on this album (Kon Kersting, Sarah Aarons and others): what did those experiences teach you about how you want to approach songwriting and making music, moving forward?
I think the writing sessions in particular definitely taught us to be more open minded when it comes to collaborating. We hadn’t really done any sort of co-writing before we did the sessions for ‘Now And Then’, so it was definitely a learning curve in some ways to be comfortable working with other people. The experiences were amazing though, and it’s brought us a new love for co-writing and collaborating with other artists! We’ve done 90% of our releases with Kon Kersting, so that part felt really comfortable and natural and it just felt right that he worked on the debut album with us!
Is there a track/s on the album that hold specific significance to you now, even after having sat with the music for as long as you have (why)?
For sure. I think as a songwriter it’s a good thing to sort of disconnect with your songs after a while, or maybe reconnect with them in a different way in the future. To me it’s a symbol of growth, and personally think it’s cool when bands change their sound and style as their careers move forward. In saying that, I’m still feeling really connected to most of the songs on the record because I feel like I haven’t had a chance to ‘over play them’ on tour yet haha. One in particular is ‘Save Me’, every time I listen to that song I feel so many things. I’m really proud of it.
You guys recently completed an East Coast tour – what was it like finally being back on stages?
It was honestly so good. I don’t think any of us realised how much we needed that back in our lives. It really felt like a piece of us was missing and we could finally feel whole again being on stage and seeing all of our fans there together enjoying our show. We always put everything we have into our live shows, and I don’t think we’ll ever take touring and shows for granted again. Life was too weird without it.
Do you feel like the way Eliza & The Delusionals approach performance now is different to how you did before the pandemic, having not been able to for so long?
Yeah, I would say so for sure. I think because we really only got to do one or two full tours with Ruby in the band and with our five-piece on stage lineup before the pandemic hit (which feels weird to think about!), so we’ve had a lot of time to rehearse and think about how we want things to look, sound and feel when we’re on stage. I think now that we can actually bring it into reality, it’s really cool for us and definitely a different experience to what fans would have seen at a pre-Covid show.
You’re in the US now after a long period of stop starts (thanks, pandemic), is it kinda surreal to finally be back over in America?
Honestly yeah. I think it took us a bit to realise that we were actually overseas when we first landed in the USA. It kind of felt like a dream. We’ve been here for a few weeks now and starting to settle into the different time zone, and being back in LA is definitely reminding us of how many amazing memories we made and how happy we were back in 2020. It’s bittersweet really!
There’s a new stack of Australian tour dates coming up too! What are you looking forward to the most about coming back with a full album up your sleeve?
I think we’ve just been so excited to play the new songs live and show everyone shows that are a step up to what we’ve been doing. It’s going to be our biggest headline tour to date, so we’re already super pumped to get back on stage across Aus!
‘Now and Then’ is released Friday, May 20th
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